[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 115 (Tuesday, July 28, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2047]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   RECOGNIZING READING IS FUNDAMENTAL

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                           HON. MIKE QUIGLEY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 28, 2009

  Mr. QUIGLEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize and honor the 
outstanding impact that the Chicago area Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) 
Program has had in promoting literacy and bringing together families 
and communities throughout the Chicagoland area.
  Since its formation in 1972, Reading Is Fundamental in Chicago has 
fought passionately and effectively to combat illiteracy in inner city 
neighborhoods, and its efforts have been met with both enthusiasm and 
success. Utilizing an extensive network that now includes 82 Chicago 
Public Schools, RIF in Chicago has distributed over 3 and a half 
million books to inner city children, including over 199,000 in the 
last school year alone. In doing so, the organization has been 
instrumental in raising awareness of the burden of illiteracy, and has 
brought together formerly disparate groups and communities to combat a 
problem that affects us all.
  Recognizing that illiteracy is so often symptomatic of poverty, RIF 
in Chicago has focused its resources on the city's most impoverished 
and underserved areas--communities in which books and literacy 
resources are a luxury rather than a right. And through the 
implementation of groundbreaking initiatives such as ``Project Open 
Book,'' ``Adolescents-at Risk,'' and the ``Young Women's Zine 
Project,'' RIF in Chicago has empowered children throughout the 
Chicagoland area, helped to strengthen inner city communities, and has 
taken great strides towards the goal of making education a right of 
every individual, regardless of one's socioeconomic status.
  Madam Speaker, in a day and age in which illiteracy can pose a 
significant barrier to success in the professional world, I commend the 
extraordinary efforts and success of the Reading Is Fundamental Program 
in Chicago. In working to eradicate illiteracy in Chicago's inner-city 
neighborhoods, Reading Is Fundamental in Chicago has emerged as a 
unifying force in the same neighborhoods, bringing together families 
and strengthening communities. Once again, I applaud the organization's 
important work and thank them for over 37 years of service to Chicago's 
children.

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